WASHINGTON, July 9 -- Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico, issued the following statement after the Trump administration announced that it is freezing billions of dollars of payments to health insurers that help stabilize insurance pools in the marketplace:

"This decision to freeze billions of dollars of payments to health insurers hurts families in New Mexico and undermines their ability to access affordable health care. The Trump administration needs to stop playing Russian Roulette with our health care system."

According to new analysis from the Center for American Progress, New Mexicans' average annual individual-market health care premiums will increase by $484 in 2019 because of deliberate actions the Trump Administration has taken to undermine the Affordable Care Act.